Many disabled persons, particularly children with neurological disorders and chromosomal/genetic disorders such as cerebral palsy have difficulty in learning to walk. However, several types of equipment are available to provide therapy and training to facilitate walking of such patients.
There are a number of walker type devices which help to support the patient as he or she is attempting walking, some are wheeled, some are motorized, some unweight the patient by using upright harnesses. However, problems arise when the disabled individuals are unable to actively facilitate the required hip and knee flexion necessary for appropriate reciprocal strides needed for forward propulsion.
In addition, it is also desirable to be able to provide a gait trainer that allows the therapist to maintain proper posture while assisting the patient.
The present invention represents an improvement over prior gait trainers and similar devices, such as those described in the following U.S. Pat. Nos. 5,930,272 and 5,765,323 to Bevilacqua; 5,406,758 to Baum; 5,794,388 to Jackman; 5,852,906 to Kuban; 6,550,190 B2 to Ruiz et al.; 6,619,001 to Pratt and 6,663,317 B1 to Williams et al., all of which are hereby incorporated hereby by reference.